COVID-19 Live Updates: Hays County Confirms Three More Cases, Says Six People Have Recovered

Caution tape is placed over tables at Mueller Lake Park. The city has closed park amenities in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Gabriel C. Pérez
/ KUT

We'll be updating this story throughout the day Monday with the latest local news on the coronavirus pandemic. If you'd like to go through a roundup of COVID-19 news from the weekend, read it here. If you have a news tip or question, email us at news@KUT.org.

In an update Monday, AISD said the meals — breakfast and lunch, served weekdays — can now be provided to parents without their children being present. Previously, a child had to be with a parent for the meals to be distributed.

Parents will need to bring one of the following: an official letter or email showing their child is enrolled, a report card, an attendance record from the parent portal, a birth certificate for a child not in school or a student ID.

At curbside food pick-up sites, parents will need to tape their documentation to their car windor or dashboard so staff can review it through the glass. At bus stop sites, parents will need to place the documentation on the table for staff to see, the district said.

If the parent does not have any of the required documentation, a child must be present to receive a meal, AISD said.

Update at 6:15 a.m. — Williamson County reports first death from COVID-19

Williamson County says a man in his 70s is the first person to die in the county from the coronvirus. He died Saturday; the local health department has not released any other information due to privacy protection laws.

"To the family, we are heartbroken for your loss," Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said. "To the rest of the community, I emphasize that it is everyone's responsibility to stay home and stay safe in order to protect our community, our families, and especially the most vulnerable among us."

Officials say, of the 37 confirmed cases in Williamson County, eight have been hospitalized and seven have recovered.

Update at 5:30 a.m. — Three more cases confirmed in Hays County; six are recovered

Hays County has three more confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 16. All cases are adults.

Six people have recovered, but 10 cases are still active. The countys says 170 people have tested negative for the disease so far. Three people have been hospitalized for it, but only two remain in the hospital.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott added more locations to his self-quarantine requirement Sunday. He said people traveling by air from Miami, Atlanta, Detroit and Chicago, as well as from anywhere in California and Washington, must self-quarantine for 14 days once they get to Texas.

Additionally, anyone traveling here from Louisiana by road must self-quarantine for 14 days.

Abbott also announced the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas will serve as the state’s first pop-up hospital during the pandemic. Officials are looking for more spaces like this to convert into medical facilities in places such as Austin, San Antonio, Houston, the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso, the governor said.

President Donald Trump extended federal guidelines urging Americans to social distance to April 30. He had initially said the guidelines would be in place for 15 days, but said Sunday the guidelines will ask U.S. residents to socially distance for another month.

He said the worst days of the pandemic could hit the U.S. in two weeks.

Other local coronavirus news from the weekend:

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Austin-Travis County increased to 200 Sunday night.

Capital Metro said it will stop charging passenger fares starting April 1.

The City of Austin has closed most park amenities — but not parks themselves — in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Related Content

This post has local news on the coronavirus pandemic from Sunday, March 29. Read Monday's live updates here. If you'd like to go through a roundup of COVID-19 news from Friday, read it here. If you have a news tip or question, email us at news@KUT.org.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday ratcheted up travel restrictions into Texas during the new coronavirus pandemic, while announcing the state's first pop-up hospital to deal with the crisis. He also said he was moving to "stop the release of dangerous felons" amid the outbreak.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler commended Austinites this week for their work in physical distancing and cutting daily interactions by 50%. New models from UT Austin suggest we’ll need to cut those interactions even more – to 90% – to keep our health care system from being overloaded.

Adler joined KUT’s Jimmy Maas for All Things Considered to talk about getting those interactions down and slowing the spread of the coronavirus.